The Google Desktop software application, which can be used to search your hard disk as you would the Internet as well as add cool looking gadgets to your desktop, has recently received a new gadget, a Gmail one. The Gmail gadget in question was made available to the general public as of early this week, and according to the people that have already gotten it, is works very well – apart from the missing sound notifications.

“You'll see that it covers the basics such as reading, searching, and sending messages. You can star messages, use the same keyboard shortcuts, and we didn't forget about contact auto-complete. It doesn't take up much space in your sidebar or desktop, and you can also resize it to show as few or as many messages as you'd like,” says James Yum, Developer Programs Engineer with Google Desktop.

If you have more than one Gmail account and would like to keep a close eye on all of them, you can run multiple instances of the Gmail gadget. James Yum for example says that he runs two Gmail gadgets simultaneously; one monitors his personal Gmail account while the other monitors his work account.

Even though Google fans have been asking to get such a gadget for some time now, there are still some complaints that need to be voiced. The first one has already been mentioned above, and it is related to the fact that when you get a new email, the Gmail gadget notifies you – visually only, no audio – which can prove to be a bother if you are immersed in some captivating activity. The second complaint is that even though Google Desktop runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, the Gmail gadget only works on Windows (for the time being).

If you would like to get Google Desktop, a download location is available here.
If you would like to get the Gmail gadget, a download location is available here.